Emanuel Holds "Very Good Meeting" With Senate GOP

November 21, 2008 1:27 p.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), who will be serving as White House chief of staff in January, has met with Senate Republican leaders to ask for proposals on a broad range of policy issues including taxes, healthcare reform and national security.

In a press conference on Thursday, Emanuel said he had a "very, very good meeting" with Senate GOP leaders. "We welcome their ideas... in these challenging times economically, the middle class are working harder, earning less and paying more. The problems facing the country require that people of both parties work together to solve those problems," he said.

"President-elect Obama has repeatedly said the challenges for the country are large.. that there is enough goodwill for ideas from both parties to solve those challenges," he added.

Emanuel, who is leaving as House Democratic Caucus chair, said that he would hold individual meetings with House Republican leaders later that day. He added that he had made more than 20 phone calls to members of the Republican caucus from both chambers and asked them for ideas "as we're formulating in the Obama administration what we're gonna do."

Republicans suffered huge losses this cycle in both the House and Senate, and it will be the first time in 15 years that Democrats have control of Congress and the White House once the new administration is inaugurated in January.

Republicans had criticized the selection of Emanuel as White House chief of staff, saying he had demonstrated partisanship throughout his years in Congress.

"Barack Obama's first decision as President-elect undermines his promise to 'heal the divides'. Rahm Emanuel is a partisan insider who played a lead role in breaking Washington. The White House needs a chief of staff - not a chief campaigner like Emanuel. Our nation will be ill-served if Obama runs the White House the way 'Rahmbo' ran the Democratic Congress," Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant said earlier this month in a memo.